West Ham player James Tomkins has Basildon court case postponed

AN ATTEMPT to prosecute a Premiership footballer failed to get off the ground after vital evidence was lost.

Basildon-raised West Ham footballer James Tomkins was due to stand trial today charged with assaulting a police officer, being drunk and disorderly and resisting another officer during a night out at Brentwood's famous Sugar Hut.

He denies all three offences.

The centre-back, aged 24, of Hutton Mount, Mount Avenue, Shenfield, was at the venue, made famous by ITV2 show The Only Way is Essex, on December 22.